'Brotherhood forever': Former University of Louisville players react to basketball scandal

Louisville interim president on Tom Jurich, Rick Pitino's mandatory administrative leave from the athletic program after the adidas basketball scandal came to light Sept. 26.
Matt Stone, The Courier-Journal

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Donovan Mitchell speaks to the press during the University of Louisville basketball media day on Tuesday afternoon.
October 11, 2016(Photo: By Michael Clevenger, CJ)Buy Photo

It pains former University of Louisville guard Donovan Mitchell to see his "brothers for life" going through the recent scandal involving "pay for play" schemes with recruits, he said on social media.

"This is deeper than basketball. This is real life," Mitchell posted on Twitter Wednesday. "I know the work they've put in all summer working their butts off trying to be the best! I love y'all man and at the end of the day we have a brotherhood forever."

Assistant coaches and current basketball players at the university have remained mostly silent in recent days, watching as the interim university president put longtime coach Rick Pitino on unpaid administrative leave and, according to his attorney, "effectively fired" him.

"My love for Louisville Basketball will never go away. I don't care what anyone thinks about the program," tweeted Alhaji Mohammed, who played for the team from 2001-2004. "If you don't like Tom Jurich, Coach P or the U of Louisville basketball program. U can kiss my ass (in the words of Stone Cold Steve Austin)"

Another former player, Chinanu Onuaku, told a reporter for a TV station in Houston that it was "real disappointing" to see what was happening.

Pitino was a main reason he went to the university, Onuaku said, adding "I love that man. He taught me how to be a man."

"My school been under investigation for a while. ... That's why I left, because, you know, a lot of stuff was happening," he said in a Twitter video shot by Mark Berman of Fox 26. "... I love the school, I love the fans, I love everybody there, I love the city. So, it's very disappointing."

Nothing to say other than Thank You to Tom Jurich and his family! They made being an athlete at UofL a special privilege!